Wednesday, 21 September 2016

OBIT - CURTIS HANSON

Yesterday, the 20th of September, Academy Award winning filmmaker Curtis Hanson died, aged 71. He was an acclaimed and widely-celebrated writer, director and producer, with a litany of classic titles and lesser-known gems to his credit, and will be very sorely missed by regular moviegoers and cinephiles the world over. Often lauded for his portraits of masculinity in his film works, Hanson was also responsible for some of the most perceptive films about women in recent Hollywood. He had a remarkable run of films from the early 1990s, directing The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The River Wild, L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys, 8 Mile and In Her Shoes consecutively. He received three Oscar nominations for 1997's L.A. Confidential, winning alongside Brian Helgeland for Adapted Screenplay, and was also a Golden Globe, BAFTA, EFA, PGA and Cannes Palme d'Or nominee, and a Critics' Choice, LCC, LAFCA, NBR, NSFC, NYFCC and WGA award winner. Hanson's final film was 2012's Chasing Mavericks, from which he departed as director mid-production due to heart surgery; he retired from filmmaking due to a reported diagnosis of Alzheimer's. This is a tragic loss for all of Hanson's loved ones, and for the international film community as well.